Hermitcraft Stories

Ex • Laughter

My still way overdue continuation of FandomsUnite05 Switcheroo challenge, using the prompt laughter (fluff-->angst).
I do apologise for any spelling/grammar mistakes.
Tw: angst, minor mentions of blood and stuff
Wc: Around 1k (1060 words)
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Laughter.

It constantly surrounds us.

But it's one of those things that can either be so deadly or so enjoyable.

It could create amazing memories or it could make dangerous and horrible ones.

And Ex certainly knew that. He had a fair bit of experience with laughter.

But he didn't remember having good experiences with laughter.

In fact, he remembered very deadly experiences with laughter.

~
Flashback:
Ex winced with pain, as he staggered to stay on his feet. He was covered with cuts and injuries so he was dripping with blood. And his armour was pretty much damaged, covered with splatters of both his and their blood. Ex's breathing was quick and shallow. His heart pounded with both fear, exhaustion and something else.

"Give up now?" They snickered and laughed as they watched him fight a hopeless battle.

Ex flinched hearing their laughter as it bounced around him. There was something about their sinister laughter that always dragged him down. He hated that feeling of defeat.

"Never!" Ex weakly shouted. Exhaustion and pain, by now was slowly dragging him down and he was slowly losing the fight.

The only response he received...was laughter.

He gripped the handle of his sword tighter as he barely dodged the attack. He swung the sword at them...of course, missing them as always. He watched with sorrow and anger as they teleported away.

Always...they would always teleport away missing any of his attacks. But he could barely miss their very own attacks. It wasn't fair...it just wasn't fair. And of course, it always followed with their laughter.

He hissed with pain as another attack hit him. He swung his sword at them, nearly hitting them but missing them by an inch, no surprise there, they had teleported away.

He yelled as another attack came from the back, making him trip and fall.

He groaned as he tried to get up but to his dismay, he just couldn't. He was too tired and in too much pain. He didn't have enough strength or energy to get back up and continue fighting.

Ex could see their dark purple eyes glow at him. And he could hear their laughter as they watched, knowing exactly what this meant. Ex also knew what it meant but he didn't like a single bit of its meaning.

He sighed with defeat, gasping for breath as he laid sprawled on the ground. His vision was blurry - the black dots danced right before his eyes...before he blacked out. And the very last thing Ex heard before he blacked out was laughter...their evil, cruel laughter.

~
Ex woke up with a jump. His heart was beating fast as the flashback in his mind ended. He looked around him, darkness surrounded him. It was still night. Reaching to the side, he blindly felt around before touching a switch. He flickered the switch and the light turned on.

He relaxed a little knowing it was yet another nightmare. "It seemed so real. Oh, wait I'm an idiot it was real and it did happen in the past," Ex tiredly mumbled to himself.

Ex let out a small yawn, "Ugh...too earlier to deal with all this...sleep." And like that, Ex turned reached out once more and turned the lights off before he laid back down, curling himself against his blanket in another attempt to sleep.

Luckily for him, he was far too tired to notice his actual surroundings or the distance sounds of laughter...

~
Another Flashback:
Ex cautiously walked as he looked around him. He was in the end on a semi-large stranded island. A path seemed to glow in front of him, so he was following that. It was leading him, somewhere. Ex didn't know why he was following but he still was following it.

It was quiet...too quiet for his taste. There weren't many mobs in sight, only occasionally an Enderman or two. And when they saw him, they quickly teleported away. Almost as if they feared him? "Huh... this is strange." Ex thought to himself.

And then he heard it...the laughter.

The laughter...that cackling, sinister laughter.

Ex's eyes widened when he heard it. He gripped the sword he was holding tighter as he turned around in a circle, looking for the direction of the laughter. "Show yourself?" He shouted.

He heard a quiet chuckle, before they responded. "Perhaps we will...or perhaps not." Of course this was followed, by more laughter.

Ex quickly hastened his pace, as he continued to follow the path. It ended up stopping all of a sudden. He looked around, confused. "Now what?"

And then he heard it...the laughter and of course another attack. "Should've known," Ex grumbled to himself. He jumped as he narrowly missed the blade of a sword. Swinging his own sword, he swung it in the direction of the attack.

"Ouch, hiss..." They quietly cried out.

Ex silently cheered, he'd surprisingly managed to hit them. Well, you have to start with something right? But anyway, Ex looked around, it had gone quiet suddenly and that was worrying. Ex moved his sword around, breaking up the tense air.

"Where in the darn end, did they go?" Ex muttered.

"Somewhere..." They cackled. Of course, more laughter followed.

Ex griped the sword even tighter, will anger. He despised being made fun of or mocked. "Stop laughing and actually fight properly!" He yelled, annoyed.

Silence...

Before a reply and a laugh came back, "Perhaps we will then."

Ex heard more laughter, before he stumbled backwards. He yelled out in pain. He could see the black dancing dot again "What?" He managed to stutter out before blacking out again.

~
Ex woke up with a jump and gasping for breath. He waited a couple of minutes so he could catch his breath and calm his racing heart.

"Why?" Ex groaned. "Can't I just sleep in peace? Still too earlier...sleep."

And like that, Ex laid back down and went back to sleep. Sighs luckily for him again, he was far too distracted and tired to pay attention to the distant sounds of the sinister laughter...

-AquaticMcFan
May you fly over the rainbow and find peace! Thanks for reading!